Eight Moments
by Aisu The Spiffy
Summary: Eight decisions that, if made differently, would have ended one life and saved another. AU short scenes, rated for death.


A/N: Me? Mildly disturbed? Perhaps.

Inspiration for this came after spending too long on FFnet. Number 1 was partially inspired by Alternatives by whitesakura. :D;

Enjoy, remember that I don't own copyrights to a bit of this all, and critique away!

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1) Seishirou stared at the small child looking at him in confusion, taking in the other's white robes and large, youthful green eyes. Another onmyouji, then, which would explain how he had broken the illusion around the tree. An annoyance, really.

For a moment he considered keeping the boy alive, playing with him for a while. Those eyes intrigued him, hinted at dark pleasures in breaking the innocence they held. But then again, mother had told him once to kill anyone who saw him working. And another meal would keep the Tree sated longer, wouldn't it?

He'd find another plaything later, he decided, and leapt out of the illusory tree.

The boy didn't even have time to scream before Seishirou's hand pierced his heart.

2) Seishirou looked up from his newspaper to notice a young man running through the train station after some bird. He couldn't place the eyes for the moment, until he recognized the faint traces of his mark glowing from underneath black gloves. He smirked slightly. The Bet had started at last, then.

But he also recognized the form of the energy worked into the teen's gloves and into the bird he chased. Pure, white magic, crisp and clean. And he was certain from that that it was some Sumeragi he was watching.

It wouldn't be wise to keep a Sumeragi alive, now would it?

He easily brought into life the slightest of illusions - a root, low enough to trip the Sumeragi boy as he ran. The boy tried to maintain balance, but it was a losing effort, and he fell onto the train tracks.

Seishirou looked back at his newspaper before the train hit.

3) The Bet was losing its novelty, Seishirou decided. Subaru was unconcious in his arms again, much to his distaste, and he was getting sick of saving the younger man.

Then again, he had sealed the contract with his mark, and the former Sumeragi clan head had spent so much effort on those gloves...

But there was no point in continuing a failing game. There was no way Subaru could win the Bet, he decided. Despite what his mother had told him, he wasn't going to fall in love.

And it wouldn't be the first promise he had broken in his time.

He traced his hand across Subaru's chest briefly, smirking. "Goodnight, dear Subaru-kun," he murmured, before bringing his hand forwards hard enough to go through Subaru's chest and stop his heart.

4) Seishirou watched as the woman came at Subaru again, knife in hand. He had arrived shortly before, and was alone with the two for now, although neither had noticed him.

He noticed calmly that Subaru wasn't moving out of the way, and smirked as he realized that the boy had decided to die.

Who was he to deny the young Sumeragi his wish?

When the doctors arrived, he was kneeling over Subaru's body, by all appearances utterly disraught, with the crazed mother raving over him.

5) Subaru had lost the Bet, then, he thought in his hospital bed. It was the date that they had met again. And it was time to end it all.

He worked the illusion carefully, and waited for Subaru to arrive. He showed the boy the truth of what had happened, since Subaru deserved closure at the least.

And then, instead of delaying it or waiting to see if Subaru would fight back, he quietly and calmly pierced Subaru's heart as the boy was still screaming over the Bet.

6) Seishirou stood over Subaru's catatonic form, considering the boy for a moment. His green eyes were still beautiful even while utterly vacant, he decided. Like a doll carved out of some precious substance, pure and white.

After a moment of contemplation, he brought his hand down. The bet was over, after all. And dolls were beautiful even when broken.

It was a shame that he hadn't been aware enough to scream, Seishirou decided later.

7) _'If you ever try to kill him the same way you killed me...'_

There were many simple ways to work around that particular threat. After all, only one method had been affected, and the Sakurazukamori had others.

It was funny that Subaru didn't bother to check if his food was poisoned.

Then again, Seishirou thought as he stood over Subaru's fallen form, he had never noticed much near the end.

8) Hokuto's final spell proved, in the end, simple to break. The threads of the spell were easily unraveled with the aid of a small blood sacrifice, and soon he was free of the girl's limitations. Which made it so much easier for him to win against Subaru when the time came for a final fight.

He held Subaru's body close to him, the kekkai that had protected Rainbow Bridge fading quickly. He smirked down at the once-innocent Sumeragi, only to discover the other man was smiling faintly.

Subaru slumped forwards, whispering something as he fell. "Thank you"? "I love you"?

Seishirou never cared enough to figure out what it had been.

In fact, he had never cared about the boy at all.

He set off from Rainbow Bridge, leaving Subaru behind.


End file.
